


so we beat on, boats against the current

by golden_sky



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst, Betrayal, Episode: s04e16 The House of L, F/F, Falling In Love, Mild Sexual Content, Protective Kara Danvers, The Great Gatsby References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 08:28:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18311930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/golden_sky/pseuds/golden_sky
Summary: Instead of giving himself cancer, Lex decides to ask Lena for a little help. It’s definitely not what she was expecting.





	so we beat on, boats against the current

When Lena sees who’s calling her, she barely resists scoffing. She’d told her brother to stop calling her after the last time he wanted to tell her how proud of her, or far from it, he was for continuing the Luthor legacy. It’s not exactly something she wants to hear ever again. 

 

“I told you not to call me,” Lena snaps into the phone as a greeting. 

 

Lex laughs, but he sounds annoyed. 

 

“Hello to you, too,” he mocks, and Lena can hear him take a frustrated sigh. “I need your help.”

 

This time, Lena can’t resist scoffing. 

 

“You need my help?” Lena repeats incredulously. “My help? Since when does Lex Luthor need help from his disappointment of a little sister? Or did you finally decide to spice up your weapons collection in pink?” 

 

There’s a long pause on the other side of the phone, and Lena isn’t sure if someone is talking to him or if Lex just has nothing to say. 

 

“You know I never meant that,” Lex says through gritted teeth. “Not really. I was just...trying to encourage you to be even better than you already were.”

 

Like Lena is going to believe that. She’s been manipulated enough by their mother to know when Lex is doing the same. He really did get his manipulative streak from Lillian. 

 

“I’m not going to help you,” Lena tells him bluntly. “And I don’t want you to call me again. I told you that before. Next time I won’t even answer.”

 

She moves to hang up, but she hears Lex call, “Wait!” She hesitates, pulling the phone slowly back to hear ear. 

 

She hates it, but...despite everything she does care about her brother. 

 

“I wouldn’t ask for your help if I didn’t really need it,” Lex says hurriedly. “You know that. I’m desperate Lena, and you’re the only one who can help me.” A long pause, and then, “Please.”

 

Lena can feel a smirk pulling at her lips. 

 

“Oh, if only I had been recording this,” Lena sighs. “Fine. I’ll help you just as long as this isn’t one of your schemes for world domination again.”

 

“It’s not,” Lex says, but Lena doesn’t really believe him. “I just need your help with a...friend. Bring the Harun-el.”

 

And he hangs up. 

 

Lena instantly regrets saying yes. 

 

She’s also pretty sure she didn’t have a choice. 

 

—

 

The last thing Lena is expecting to see when she gets off her plane and is rushed into a covert lab on a Russian military base is Supergirl lying passed out in a bed. 

 

She pauses in the doorway, long enough for Lex to notice and roll his eyes. 

 

“She’s not Supergirl,” he says, ushering her into the lab. “She’s her clone.”

 

That gives Lena another pause, and this time she turns to Lex in shock. 

 

“You cloned Supergirl?” Lena practically shouts, and she knows there’s a desperate lilt to her voice. This was worse than she could’ve ever imagined. 

 

She stares at the clone on the bed. She looks asleep, and she looks exactly like Supergirl. It’s unnerving. 

 

“Oh no, I didn’t clone her,” Lex says, laughter bubbling under his voice. Lena turns to him reproachfully. “You did.”

 

“Me? How did I do this?” Lena implores, and her head is practically buzzing. She looks back towards the sleeping clone. 

 

Lex says nothing, but nods his head towards Lena’s suitcase that she’s holding the Harun-el inside of. Lena sucks in a sharp breath. 

 

“The Harun-el cloned her. Supergirl must have touched it when she defeated Reign,” Lena breathes. She turns to Lex frantically. “You’re going to use her to kill Supergirl aren’t you? She’s Supergirl’s bad side, isn’t she?”

 

Lex snorts and shakes his head, but there’s a glint in his eye that Lena doesn’t trust. 

 

“Unfortunately for me there doesn’t seem to be an evil bone in her body,” Lex informs her, but Lena knows he’s hiding something. 

 

“Oh? So you just want me to save her out of the kindness of your heart?” Lena asks, raising an eyebrow. 

 

Lex glares at her, but it reminds Lena of a petulant child more than anything else. 

 

“As much as I would love to play this game of who trusts who less...” Lex begins, the gestures towards Supergirl’s clone, “She’s going to die if you don’t help her soon.”

 

Lena hesitates for a second. She could easily say no, or insist that Lex tell her what’s going on, but Lex would just take the Harun-el from her forcefully, and she’d definitely rather him not get his hands on it. 

 

And...the clone looks just like Supergirl, but somehow...softer. More human in a way. Lena can’t help but feel for her in the same way she does for Supergirl, despite what she and her had gone through. And this clone...she almost reminds Lena of—

 

“Well?” Lex prods, frustration slipping into his tone. “Are you going to help her or not?”

 

Lena blinks out of her stupor, shaking the last thought out of her head. She moves past Lex, making sure to just clip her shoulder against his own in a way that makes him click his tongue in annoyance, and stands over the bed. 

 

She places her suitcase on the bed, opening it and pulling a small vial out of the case. She supposes now that she’s helping Supergirl, or a version of her, she doesn’t have to worry about separating the powers from the healing properties. 

 

“I need to put this directly into her bloodstream,” Lena says clinically, pressing her fingers down against the inside of the clone’s elbow. “But I assume her skin will just break my needle.”

 

“Don’t worry about that,” Lex reassures, but Lena doesn’t much like the sound of that. 

 

He leans out the door and asks one of the people outside for something, but it’s too low for Lena to hear. Lena shifts anxiously. 

 

A moment later, he comes to the bed with a glowing green round object, and he drops it into Lena’s hand. 

 

“Kryptonite,” he informs her. “But it’s controlled. It’ll only weaken the area around what it’s touching. Enough room for you to get that needle in.”

 

Of course Lex has Kryptonite. Lena can’t even be annoyed, she should’ve just known that he would. 

 

She puts the disk on the clone’s arm, and holds back the nauseous feeling when she sees the Kryptonite crawl through her veins. 

 

Lena grabs a needle from her suitcase and sanitizes it before sticking it into the vial. She fills the needle, grabs the tourniquet band from her bag, and motions for Lex to wrap it around the clone’s arm. After he does, she finds the clone’s vein, presses the needle in, and empties it.

 

She can see the black of the Harun-el crawling through her veins, and the clone begins to spasm, thrashing around on the bed. Lena jumps away just as the clone lets out a gasp, her eyes bursting open as she sits up in the bed. 

 

The clone blinks slowly, then looks over at her and Lex, her eyes shifting between them. Her eyes finally settle on Lena. Her mouth splits into a smile. 

 

“Lena,” the clone breathes. She sounds awestruck, and her eyes are wide and sincere. 

 

Lena looks over to Lex. 

 

“I may have mentioned you once or twice,” Lex admits reluctantly. 

 

The clone is still staring at Lena, and Lena finds herself shifting uncomfortably. No one has ever looked at her like this, like she’s something amazing or awe inspiring. Not even Kara has ever looked at her like this, too aware of what Lena’s been through, and some sort of burden on her own shoulders that Lena doesn’t understand, to be able to. This look is something completely innocent and pure. It scares Lena beyond belief. 

 

The clone briefly looks at Lex before jumping out of the bed, not stopping until she’s standing right in front of Lena. 

 

“I’m...Linda,” the clone—Linda— introduces, eyeing Lena for a moment before biting her lip and looking down. 

 

Lena blinks in surprise. She was not expecting the thick Russian accent, and it’s strange to hear from Supergirl’s mouth. And the way Linda shifts nervously, the way she looked down and away from Lena, the way she says Lena’s name...

 

“I’ve heard so much about you,” Linda continues, rocking from foot to foot and ringing her hands together. “I’ve wanted to meet you for so long but Alex—” Lena raises her eyebrows at the nickname. “—wouldn’t let me. Thank you for saving me.” She finally looks up again, fixing Lena with a wide smile, so wide it scrunches up her eyes until she’s squinting. 

 

Oh, god, Lena thinks her heart might just burst out of her chest. 

 

“Yes, yes, it’s great,” Lex brushes off, coming up next to Linda. Linda frowns at his tone. He turns to Lena. “You can go now. And don’t speak of this to anyone.”

 

It only takes a split second for Lex to change his mind, not even long enough for Lena to look in the direction of the door. 

 

“Actually,” Lex says immediately. “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t trust you. You’re staying here.”

 

Linda looks at Lena like a kid in a candy store, her eyes shining so bright Lena’s almost worried that she’s going to set off her heat vision. If she even has it. 

 

Lex grabs her arm and pulls her into the hall, Linda trailing behind them obediently. 

 

Lex pulls Lena into a room a little further down the hall. There’s a desk that’s completely covered with papers and other scattered objects. Lena guesses it belongs to whoever runs this place. 

 

Lex brushes some of the mess off of the table until Lena can see a phone. It’s old—one with a handset and a cord and the buttons on the base. 

 

“Call your friends. Tell them you’ll be away for a while,” Lex commands, pushing the phone across the desk towards Lena, knocking more of the clutter off of the desk. “I don’t want Supergirl to somehow come here looking for you.”

 

Lena doesn’t know why Lex assumes Supergirl cares enough for Lena to worry about her being gone for a little while, but she’s not going to resist the chance to signal to someone that she needs help. 

 

She dials Kara’s number, which she’s had memorized probably for an emergency like this, maybe for some other reason Lena doesn’t want to dwell on. 

 

Kara picks up after three rings with a reluctant, “Hello?”

 

“Kara,” Lena sighs, and it’s so good to hear her voice. It’s like being wrapped in a blanket and coming home. 

 

Lex winces, as if he’d been expecting her to call someone else and this was the worse case scenario. Linda just tilts her head down and away, pursing her lips. 

 

“Lena?” Kara asks, and Lena can hear the smile in her voice. “I thought you said you wouldn’t be able to call for a bit.”

 

“I know but...” Lena pauses, trying to think of how to phrase her words in a way that Lex won’t pick up on. “It turns out I’m going to have to stay a little longer than I planned.”

 

“Oh?” Kara says. She sounds disappointed, and it makes Lena’s heart lift a little to think that she misses her. “How long?”

 

“I’m not sure,” Lena answers, her eyes flicking over to Lex who’s watching her intently. “I might have gotten a breakthrough on my newest cell research.”

 

There’s a long pause on the other side of the phone. 

 

“Lena you haven’t been doing any cell research. What are you talking about?” Kara asks, and a second later, “Is something wrong? Is someone there?”

 

Lena laughs like Kara just told her a joke, and sneaks a glance at Lex again. He seems impatient, but not suspicious, not yet. 

 

“Yes, Kara,” Lena stresses before continuing, “we’ll definitely get burgers once I get back.”

 

She can hear Kara moving on the other side of the phone, there’s shuffling, and then Kara talking to someone else rapidly. Lena guesses it’s probably Alex. 

 

“Wrap this up,” Lex mutters to her under his breath, and Lena shoots him a glare. He rolls his eyes. 

 

“Okay, Lena,” Kara says frantically. “Don’t worry, Alex can track this call at the DEO and we’ll find you and Supergirl will save you, I promise, just be careful, okay? Don’t get hurt or do anything too risky.”

 

“I’ll miss you, too,” Lena says, smile still fixed on her face. “But I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

 

“Okay,” Kara says, more to herself than anything, Lena thinks. “Okay, I’ll come get you, I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you, Lena. I l—”

 

The phone cuts out, and Lena jerks her head up to look at Lex, who hung up the call from the base. 

 

“Bad connection,” Lex says, shrugging. 

 

Lena looks over to Linda, who’s staring hard at the floor, and it occurs to her that she could probably hear everything Kara said. 

 

Lex gives Linda a pointed look, and Linda finally raises her head, meeting his eyes. Her eyes flick to Lena’s for the quickest second before she swallows and subtlety shakes her head. 

 

Lena tries to school her expression so that Lex won’t see her shock. 

 

Linda lied for her. 

 

But Lex still pulls the phone from it’s socket and tosses it on the floor in front of Linda. 

 

“Smash it,” he demands, and Linda looks down at the phone for a moment. “Well?”

 

Linda crushes the phone under her foot, and Lena can’t help but feel that she’s doomed. 

 

—

 

Lex has to go back to prison not even an hour later, and he pushes Lena into a room that’s more like a cell. 

 

“Feels like home, doesn’t it, sis?” he asks, and Lena tries to hold her tongue, remembering what Kara said over the phone. 

 

Unfortunately for Kara, Lena’s always been a risk taker. 

 

Lex puts two soldiers right outside Lena’s “room” and tells them not to leave her alone under any circumstances. Lena loves that her brother cares for her so much. 

 

Lena sits on the bed. It’s lumpy and uncomfortable, the single blanket scratchy and old. She wouldn’t be surprised if Lex gave her the worst bed in the place on purpose. 

 

Lena still lies down, putting her head on the almost completely flat pillow and staring at the ceiling. 

 

She knows that Kara and Alex and Surpergirl will find her and figure out how to save her. She just has to make sure she doesn’t get killed or hurt or...or anything first. 

 

After twenty minutes of counting the tiles on the ceiling, Lena hears a bit of a scuffle outside, and sits up, straining her ears to hear. 

 

Everything being said is in Russian, but Lena knows the language well enough to know they’re talking about her. A woman’s voice speaks louder, more urgently, and it must be Linda. 

 

From what little Lena can make out, it sounds like Linda wants to talk to her and someone won’t let her. It was probably Lex’s orders. 

 

Lena wonders what Linda could possibly have to say to her. 

 

The noise dies down a few minutes later. Linda must have either given up or been subdued, and some part of Lena hopes it’s the first one. Lena might not trust her very much, but she did lie for Lena, and she is part of Supergirl. She doesn’t want to see her hurt. 

 

She must have fallen asleep at some point, because she startles away to the sound of pounding on her door. 

 

A part of her hopes that it’s Supergirl here to save her, but she doesn’t believe that there’s any way even she could’ve worked out where she is that fast. She’s out of the bed and backing against the wall in an instant, eyes trained warily on the door. 

 

It kicks through not even a minute later, and it’s Linda standing in the doorway, no sign of any sort of strain and her. The soldiers that had been standing in the hall are knocked out on the ground. 

 

Linda rushes inside, standing next to Lena and cupping her hand around her elbow. Lena stares at the point where they make contact. It makes her feel the same as it does when Supergirl touches her. 

 

Lena finds herself being dragged into the narrow hall and pulled into a room at the end of it. The door hadn’t been broken through there, but there are several soldiers passed out in front of it. Linda ushers her inside, closes the door, and moves her bed effortlessly so it’s in front of the door, completely blocking them in. 

 

Lena stares at her wide eyed. 

 

“Don’t be afraid,” Linda reassures immediately. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

 

But Lena doesn’t believe her. She’s been told that one too many times by people who have. 

 

“Then why’d you bring me in here?” Lena asks. “And why did you blockade the door?”

 

Linda looks down at the floor, but her shoulders are tense. 

 

“Those men...” Linda grits out, and Lena thinks this is the first time she’s seen or heard her angry. “I could hear what they were saying about you. It was disgusting.” Linda spits out the last word like what they were saying physically sickens her. “You’re beautiful, Lena. You don’t deserve to have anyone talk about you like that. I...I wanted to protect you.”

 

When Linda says that, it reminds Lena of Kara, and she feels a surge of affection towards her. 

 

“Thank you,” Lena says sincerely, and Linda smiles that same smile she did earlier, that scrunches up her eyes until they’re almost closed. 

 

It’s the most adorable thing Lena’s ever seen. She doesn’t think she’s ever wanted to hug someone more in her life. 

 

Linda sits down on her bed and motions for Lena to sit down next to her. She does, and she looks around, taking in the room. The walls are peeling, and the only other things in the room are a small metal dresser, she thinks, and a huge pile of books in the corner. 

 

Linda notices Lena looking at the books and smiles softly. 

 

“Alex gave them to me,” she tells her. She stands up, and grabs one of the books resting on the top of the pile. “This is my favorite.” She hands it to Lena. 

 

It’s an old copy of The Great Gatsby, worn from it’s age and being read so many times. Lena holds it carefully, turning it over in her hands. 

 

“Why?” Lena asks, looking up at Linda. She’s surprised to see her already looking at her, her eyes soft in the same way as when she spoke about the book. “I was never a big fan of it myself.”

 

“It’s so beautiful,” Linda gushes. “The language, the way everything sounds. I want to see the world the same way.” 

 

“So you just like the words?” Lena asks, and she supposes she understands. The language of the book is gorgeous, even if she doesn’t love the plot. 

 

Linda shakes her head, but she bites her lip and looks away instead of saying anything. 

 

“What?” Lena asks, inclining her head in an attempt to catch Linda’s eye. “What else do you like?”

 

“The green light,” Linda admits, her lips curling into a shy grin. “I want to see it myself. Everything he wants is in the green light, shining right in front of him. I’d like to see the future shine in front of me, too.”

 

“But he could never have it,” Lena protests, though she’s unsure why. “He could see the ideal future right in front of him but he never got it. He dies and Daisy doesn’t care. Clearly, he was too obsessed with this ideal future to see what was actually in front of him. What’s so great about that?”

 

But Linda’s mouth is still curled upwards, and her voice takes on a dreamy tone. 

 

“It eluded us then, but that’s no matter,” Linda recites. “Tomorrow we’ll run faster, stretch our arms out farther, and one fine morning...” Linda stops, looking over at Lena. “Maybe Gatsby never got to the green light, but that doesn’t mean that you or I can’t. If we continue to hope and reach, maybe one day we will.”

 

Lena laughs, a small low laugh without any humor. 

 

“I guess you and I got very different meanings out of that book,” Lena says, placing the book down next to her on the bed. 

 

“I—” Linda begins, but she’s cut off by a loud banging on the door. 

 

“Let her out of there!” a soldier shouts, he pushes at the door but it does nothing more than shake, and even that stops once Linda places a single hand against it. 

 

“No,” Linda says fiercely. “I will not let you take her away from me. I need to protect her.”

 

“There’s nothing to protect her from here,” the soldier persists with another loud bang. “No one will hurt her. And Alex doesn’t want you to spend time with her, you know this.”

 

“I don’t believe you,” Linda snaps, and Lena’s glad because she doesn’t either. “She will stay with me or I will take her away from here.”

 

The soldier falls silent, and there’s a murmuring of voices in the hall that ultimately seem to decide that they’d rather not have an angry Kryptonian on their hands. 

 

“We’ll be telling Alex about this,” one of them assures, anger coloring his tone, but Linda doesn’t even flinch. 

 

Instead, she sits back down on the bed and takes Lena’s face in her hands. 

 

“I will always protect you, Lena Luthor,” she promises. Lena sucks in a sharp breath and can feel her eyes sting. It’s something she had always imagined Kara doing and saying. 

 

And maybe that’s why she believes her. 

 

Linda strokes her thumbs along Lena’s cheeks, staring at her for a long moment before saying, “You need to sleep.”

 

Lena blinks, having almost been entranced by the feeling of Linda soothing her thumbs along her cheeks. 

 

“So do you,” Lena points out. She frowns when Linda drops her hands from her face and gets off the bed. 

 

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Linda suggests, dropping down onto the floor next to the bed, hugging her knees and looking up at Lena. 

 

Lena immediately shakes her head. 

 

“No!” she insists, standing up. “This is your bed. You should sleep in it. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

 

But Linda shakes her head and remains firmly planted on the floor. Lena knows that she can’t make her do anything she doesn’t want to, so she sits back down reluctantly. She pulls the blanket and the pillow off of the bed and gives them to Linda, hoping she’ll at least take them. 

 

She frowns but still accepts them, clearly recognizing that it’s a compromise. She places the pillow down and folds the blanket up so she can lie on it. 

 

“Go to sleep, Lena,” Linda murmurs, curling up on the blanket and tucking her head onto the pillow. “I’ll keep you safe.”

 

It’s unexpectedly the best night’s sleep Lena’s had in a long time. 

 

—

 

When Lena wakes up, the bed is pushed against the wall again and the blanket is tucked around her. Lena startles when she sees Linda sitting at the foot of the bed staring at her. 

 

“I have to train,” Linda tells her. She looks down at her hands, staring intently. “They won’t let you come.”

 

Lena blinks the sleep from her eyes and moves down the bed. She reaches forward, placing her hand on Linda’s bicep. Linda looks up at her wide eyed. 

 

“It’s okay,” Lena says sleepily, running her hand down Linda’s arm. “I’ll be okay.”

 

Linda looks at her for a long moment. Eventually she nods, and, to Lena’s surprise, takes Lena’s face in her hands like she did the night before. This time, she leans in and presses a kiss to Lena’s forehead, smiling gently when she pulls back. 

 

Before Lena can say anything, Linda is already gone. 

 

Not even a moment later, a man in decorated clothing walks in, and Lena assumes he’s the man who’s office she made the call from yesterday. 

 

He gives her a disdainful look, but Lena also notices that he’s leering a little. She pulls the blanket around her tighter, and finds herself missing Linda already. 

 

“Lex wants you in the lab,” is all he says, motioning for her to follow. 

 

Lena gets out of the bed and follows him down the hall, listening to him explain how they’re monitoring Linda’s progress in controlling her powers and whether or not she has all of them. 

 

“Lex says that since you’ve worked...intimately with Supergirl you’d know better than we would,” he spits, not even bothering to hold the door to the lab open for her. 

 

The head lab technician introduces himself stiffly, and brings her over to see Linda’s charts. 

 

Lena looks them over, eyebrows raising as she moves down the list. 

 

“They really are identical,” Lena whispers, looking it over again. “I mean, I don’t know all of this about Supergirl, but from what I do, it’s all the same. Height, weight, muscle mass, physical features, they all seem to be the same.” She keeps scanning the list. “I don’t know Supergirl’s blood type, but the decreased heart rate makes sense with how she’s powered by the sun. The extremely high metabolism, too. And the abnormally high IQ.” She flips to the next page. “Flight, super speed and strength, invulnerability, heat vision, freeze breath, everything seems to be the same. She’s an exact clone. I bet she even has the same DNA.”

 

Lena would be lying if she said she wasn’t curious about that. But she figures it’s useless anyway. It’s highly doubtful that Supergirl’s DNA would be in any database. 

 

The Colonel and the lab technician exchange a look over Lena’s head, and the Colonel nods his head and leaves. He’s probably going to call Lex. 

 

And then it hits Lena. This is horrifying. The perfect match for Supergirl is directly under her brother’s thumb, willing to do almost anything to please him. Surely if he told her to she’d kill Supergirl? Surely Lex has been manipulating her somehow to want to?

 

But Linda hasn’t listened to Lex when it’s come to Lena. She lied about the phone call for her, wouldn’t let Lena sleep alone last night. Maybe...maybe Lena would be able to convince her to do the right thing. 

 

Then again, Lena finds it highly suspicious that Lex didn’t have them forced apart so far today, aside from the training, but that wasn’t even done by force. He might have plans for that to happen later, but Lena has a feeling that he has some sort of other plan up his sleeve. Something that he thinks is going to make Lena want to let Supergirl be killed. 

 

Lena is terrified. 

 

She spends what feels like hours pouring over all of the papers in the lab, taking her own notes in some places. She almost wonders why Lex would give her free reign in this lab, but it’s very Lex of him to want a Luthor to look over everything. 

 

An hour later she’s back in Linda’s room where a chess board has been set up. Lena finds it interesting that Lex seems to be training her the same way Lena was trained to be a Luthor. Chess and a lot of old foreign literature. 

 

“Alex and I play every time he comes to visit,” Linda informs her, moving her pawn a space forward. “I’ve never beaten him. I don’t think I can.”

 

Lena moves a pawn forward as well. 

 

“He’s not actually that hard to beat,” Lena tells her, watching Linda’s next move. “I beat him the first time we ever played together.” She gives Linda a smirk. “And I was only four years old then.”

 

Linda’s eyes widen in awe, and she doesn’t even notice Lena taking her bishop. 

 

“You beat him on your first try?” Linda exclaims. “How?”

 

Lena just smiles, and shrugs. 

 

“Lex is all about intimidation. He makes you think too hard because you think he’s 20 steps ahead of you, but he’s only 10,” Lena explains. She motions for Linda to make her move. “Try not to think too hard about what he’s doing. Think more about what you can do to him.”

 

Linda nods along, hanging on to everything Lena’s saying like she’s preaching the gospel. 

 

“And,” Lena continues. “It really is all in the white knight.” She makes her move. “Check mate.”

 

Linda blinks at her, then looks down at the board, then back up at Lena. 

 

“You really are better than Alex,” Linda breathes, staring down at the board. “He has never beaten me this fast.”

 

Lena grins, wide and proud. 

 

“Oh, I know I am,” Lena boasts, and Linda giggles. It’s a very endearing sound. 

 

“I can see why Kara Danvers cares so much about you,” Linda muses, her soft gaze focused on Lena’s face. 

 

Lena tenses immediately. 

 

“How do you know about Kara?” Lena asks a lot more forcefully than she means to. 

 

Linda tilts her head to the side. 

 

“Lex told me about her,” Linda tells her. “I read about you in her diary.”

 

Lena feels her heart stop, and she’s not sure if it’s because Kara has written about her in her diary or because Lex has most certainly been in Kara’s apartment. 

 

“She cares about you so much, Lena,” Linda continues, unaware of the panic Lena is spiraling into. “And I always wanted to understand why. Lex said that you betrayed him, but Kara Danvers spoke of you in such sweet words. Now I do understand. You’re truly amazing, Lena Luthor.” Linda ducks her head shyly, and that motion...it reminds her so much of Kara. It—

 

There’s a loud bang on the door, and a call for more food for Linda. Linda smiles happily, rising from her seat. She hesitates in front of Lena, as if she wants to do or say something, but seems to decide against whatever it is. She leaves the room. 

 

Lena stares at the chess board for a long moment. She feels like she’s missing something, like there’s a piece missing from a puzzle but she can’t see what it is or where it fits. 

 

She shakes herself out of it. She hopes Supergirl comes soon. She needs to tell Kara about this. 

 

She rises from her chair and moves across the room, towards the pile of books in the corner. She sits next to it and sorts through them, reading the titles and descriptions to see what she recognizes. 

 

She snorts when she finds a Karl Marx book. 

 

“Really, Lex?” she scoffs, flipping over the book to see the back. It’s not the Communist Manifesto, at least. 

 

“I found that one interesting,” Linda says, and Lena startles, her head jerking up to look at her. She must have been looking at her books for longer than she thought. 

 

Lena shrugs and puts the book back down. 

 

“I’m sure it’s interesting, it’s just very ironic that Lex would make you read it,” Lena says, leaning back against the wall. 

 

Linda steps closer and sits down next to her so that their shoulders are touching. It’s more comforting than it should be, considering Lena only met her yesterday. Even still, Lena feels like she’s known her for years. And she supposes she has. 

 

“Why?” Linda wonders. “Alex said he wanted to teach me about greed. That’s why he took me to America, to show me how awful greed makes people. And he was right.”

 

Lena turns to her, raising an eyebrow incredulously. 

 

“Lex told you all of that?” Lena asks, and Linda nods sagely. “Did he also tell you that he’s a billionaire himself?”

 

Linda’s eyebrows furrow, and she shakes her head slowly. 

 

“And he’s tried to destroy the world, all just to prove that he’s better than Superman,” Lena says, gauging Linda’s reaction. It doesn’t change. “He just wants to use you, Linda. He’s trying to trick you into killing Supergirl for him. Supergirl isn’t bad. He is.”

 

Linda shakes her head frantically, and Lena feels her heart sink a little. 

 

“You’re lying,” Linda insists, and to Lena’s surprise, she sounds angry. “He cares for me. And I’ve seen what those Americans have done. They’re evil and they only care for themselves. Supergirl is a monster for protecting them.”

 

Lena decides it’s best not to to prod her right now. She’ll need to see for herself. If there’s anything Lena knows about Supergirl, it’s that she’s stubborn. 

 

“Well, in any case, communism certainly isn’t the answer,” Lena mutters, pushing the book further away. Linda doesn’t say anything, but Lena can feel her gaze on the side of her face. 

 

“What do you like?” Linda questions abruptly. Lena looks at her, and her expression is open, curious. 

 

“What do you mean?” Lena asks, scanning her face. Her eyes stop briefly at Linda’s lips, and she looks away. 

 

“What do you like?” Linda repeats, moving a little closer so that their arms are completely pressed together. “What makes you happy?”

 

Lena’s immediate thought is Kara, but for some reason she doesn’t think Linda would like that. 

 

“I like...scotch,” Lena finally says, eyeing Linda from the corner of her eye. “And vegan food. And watching the sun set over the city every night.”

 

I like when Kara laughs, she doesn’t say. I like when Kara smiles. I like when you smile. 

 

“What is...vegan food?” Linda asks, her nose scrunching like she doesn’t like the sound of it. Lena has to resist a laugh. She can’t help but find Linda adorable. 

 

“Nothing you would enjoy, I don’t think,” Lena responds, and she does laugh this time at Linda’s head tilt. Linda seems to smile at the sound. 

 

There’s a moment of silence, and then, “I’ve never seen the sun set,” Linda admits. “Though I’ve heard it’s beautiful.”

 

“It is,” Lena says. “On my balcony, when the sun sets, I can see the sun shine through all of the buildings. And the sky is pink and orange and purple above it. It looks like the whole city has become just those colors instead of the ugly browns it usually is.”

 

Linda is smiling softly, like she can picture the image too, and she loves what she can see. 

 

Lena finds herself wishing that she could show her, that she could share it with her. She thinks that Linda would really like it. She’d probably get that awestruck look on her face, the wide innocent stare she gets when she sees something new. And after a few moments she’d turn to Lena, eyes scrunched all the way up and say, “It’s beautiful.” in that way that Lena’s only ever heard her say it. 

 

It’s only been a day, and a part of Lena already aches for this woman. A version of Supergirl who isn’t so self righteous or drives Lena nuts with her heavy set morals that often don’t even make sense. Maybe that’s somehow Lena’s dream woman. 

 

“Do you like anyone like Gatsby likes Daisy?” Linda asks suddenly. 

 

Lena looks at her curiously, but Linda’s expression is unreadable. 

 

“I might,” Lena relents eventually. And, because she can’t stop herself, “Do you?”

 

Linda is quiet for a long moment. 

 

“I might,” she finally says, and Lena has to hold back her annoyance at it. Supergirl has never been very upfront, though, Lena has realized over the years. 

 

But Linda goes on, “I have no memory of my life before this base, but I still have these...feelings. When Alex first said your name it made me feel in a way I never had. I don’t understand it.” Her brows furrow in frustration. “I feel like...I am Gatsby and you are Daisy. I want to...touch you, but you want to be with someone else. And I don’t know who.”

 

Lena’s breath catches in her throat. The way Linda feels for her, she already felt it before she even met Lena. It’s a product of the way Supergirl felt for her, so intrinsically a part of her that Linda couldn’t help but feel it, too. Lena feels tears well up in her eyes, and she takes in a shaky breath. 

 

“I think, maybe, it’s Kara Danvers,” Linda carries on. “You seem different when you talk about her. And you called her on the phone before. She feels the same way for you, I can feel it. But I...I want you to feel like that for me. I feel that way for you.”

 

When Lena turns to Linda, she’s looking down, gaze firmly on the floor between where their thighs almost touch. 

 

Almost against her own accord, Lena finds herself leaning forward until their noses brush together. Linda still doesn’t look up, but her eyes close when Lena tilts her head to the side, just enough so that their lips brush. Lena can feel Linda’s lips part, and then Linda nudges forward so that their lips slot together. It’s sweet and chaste, and it’s so very clear that Linda has never kissed anyone before, but it’s perfect. By the time she pulls away, Lena can feel her heart pounding in her throat. Linda’s eyes are still closed, and she’s breathing heavily. 

 

“Maybe it doesn’t have to be like Gatsby and Daisy,” Lena whispers, but she isn’t quite sure she believes it herself. “Maybe we can have our own story.”

 

Linda surges forward, curling both hands around Lena’s cheeks and kissing her again, this time rough and forceful. It’s more of the way Lena has always imagined Supergirl kissing her, when she had indulged on the fantasy a few times. But the reality is so much better. 

 

Linda kisses curiously, in the same way she seems to interact with everything she doesn’t quite understand, but in a wild, unrestrained sort of way. Lena absolutely loves it. 

 

It isn’t long before Lena crawls into Linda’s lap, straddling her thighs and pushing her tongue into Linda’s mouth, deepening the kiss. Linda whimpers against her lips, and her hips seem to buck up on their own accord. 

 

“I want to touch you,” Linda says desperately, as Lena moves to kiss along her neck. She sounds absolutely wrecked, and Lena feels herself getting wetter just at the sound of it. “Please.”

 

Lena shushes her against her neck, pressing soft, open-mouthed kisses there. She wishes she could bite, leave little marks there that would have Linda gasping, but she knows that Linda wouldn’t feel it. 

 

“How do you want to touch me?” Lena breathes into Linda’s throat, pressing a small kiss on her collarbone that makes Linda squirm. “You can touch me however you want.”

 

Linda doesn’t respond, but her hands move away from her face, and down Lena’s shoulders and chest. She cups Lena’s breasts in her hands, running her thumb over her hardened nipples through her shirt and bra, but Lena still gasps at the feeling. 

 

“I always find myself drawn here,” Linda admits, running her thumbs back and forth across her nipples. “They’re so...beautiful.”

 

Lena huffs a laugh, and takes Linda’s hands, guiding them under her shirt and back up to her chest. She wishes she could take off her bra, but she’s too worried someone will walk in on them. Linda doesn’t seems to mind, her eyes widening as she brushes the soft skin on the top of Lena’s breasts with her thumbs. Her palms bump into Lena’s nipples occasionally, causing Lena to moan at the sharp sting of pleasure it sends through her. 

 

Lena tilts her head up, nosing along Linda’s jaw before kissing her again, their lips moving together easily as if they had been kissing for years. When they break apart, Lena touches their foreheads together, breathing heavily. 

 

“How else can I touch you?” Linda pleads, tilting her chin so that she can kiss Lena again.

 

Lena doesn’t break the kiss, but she takes one of Linda’s wrists again, taking it out from under her shirt and down between her legs. She moans when Linda cups her there a little rougher than she expected, her palm pressing against Lena in the best way. 

 

Lena pushes Linda further against the wall until they are completely pressed together, kissing her hard and rough and biting at her lower lip the way she always wanted to do to Supergirl. 

 

She runs a hand down Linda’s body, over the curve of her breast and down her hard, toned abs that she can’t resist groaning when she feels. She stops at her stomach, pulling their lips apart just enough to ask, “Can I?” 

 

Linda nods frantically, and Lena moves her fingers to brush along Linda through her track suit, wishing that she could take it off and touch her for real. 

 

Neither of them last long, especially once Linda pushes her hand past the waistband of Lena’s pants and into her panties, removing the barrier between them. 

 

“You’re so wet,” Linda marvels when she pushes a finger between her labia, and when Linda’s thumb brushes along Lena’s clit again she comes on the spot, murmuring, “Oh, fuck, K—”

 

Linda comes about a minute later, extremely worked up and practically doing all the work grinding herself into Lena’s hand while Lena rubs against her clit as best she can and coos against her jaw and placed wet kisses there. When Linda comes, her eyes close tight and she bites her lip hard. Lena kisses her bottom lip once it’s over, soothing it between her own. 

 

After a long moment of silence besides the sound of their labored breath, Linda, says, “I feel like I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.”

 

Lena giggles, something high pitched and so unlike anything she’s ever heard come from herself. 

 

“I think I have, too,” Lena admits, but for some reason, that makes Linda frown. 

 

Lena pulls Linda close, tucking Linda’s face into her neck and curling an arm around her back, the other tangling into her hair. She presses a kiss to the top of her head and Linda wraps her arms around Lena’s waist, giving her own kiss against Lena’s neck. They stay like that for a long moment, just holding each other. 

 

“You need to sleep,” Linda murmurs eventually, pulling away from Lena. Something about her still seems melancholy, but Lena knows that there’s probably nothing she can do to help. She’s never been good at that kind of thing. 

 

Lena nods, rising up off of the floor. She pauses when Linda doesn’t move to follow her. 

 

“Come on,” Lena prods, holding out a hand to her. Linda blinks at her. 

 

“I’ll sleep on the floor again,” Linda insists. Lena smiles and shakes her head. 

 

“Come on,” she repeats, opening and closing her hand. “I want you to hold me.”

 

Linda smiles her scrunchy smile, and takes Lena’s hand, curling their hands together in a way that feels perfect. 

 

The bed is just as uncomfortable as it was last night, but Lena barely notices it with Linda spooned behind her, her face buried in Lena’s neck and the hand around Lena’s neck rubbing circles against her belly. 

 

And just as Lena is drifting off to sleep, Linda whispers, almost too low to hear, “I think I found my green light.”

 

—

 

Lena wakes up with Linda kissing her cheek and combing a hand through her hair. 

 

When Lena first sees her, she has to resist calling her Kara, and it gives Lena a pause. She doesn’t know why she keeps doing this. 

 

Linda leaves to train again, and Lena is ushered back into the lab, this time because Lex wants her to do more work on the Harun-el. At gun point, too, it seems. 

 

Lena knows what he wants. He wants Lena to create a serum that will power him up like Superman so that he can finally fight him one on one. 

 

As if Lena’s going to facilitate his testosterone influenced fantasy. 

 

So she gets to work on a false serum, something that will completely null the effects of the Harun-el so that when Lex tries to take it he will be very surprised to realize that he can’t fight a Super. 

 

And if Lex takes his anger out on her? Well, she’s used to it. And she’d rather die than help him, anyway. 

 

It only takes her a few hours to convince the lab techs that she’s made the Harun-el suitable for human consumption. She dictates the solution for them, and they write it down frantically.

 

She’s starting to think she should give up on business and become an actress. Apparently she’d do amazing at it. 

 

When Lena gets back to Linda’s room, the chess board is set up and Linda is staring at it intently. 

 

Lena sits down across from her slowly, watching Linda hesitantly. 

 

“Is everything all right?” Lena asks tentatively. Some part of Lena wonders if Linda is going to break up with her, which is a completely ridiculous thought since they were never really together in the first place. 

 

“In my books,” Linda begins, and her voice wavers a little. Lena doesn’t like the sound of it. “Alex didn’t give me many books on romance...but I have learned that when you love someone, you should be honest with them.” She looks up at Lena, as if for confirmation, and Lena nods slowly. “I have something I have to tell you.”

 

Lena’s thoughts begin to run a mile a minute. There’s so many horrible things Linda could say next. Maybe Linda did tell Lex about the call. Maybe Lex has already killed Supergirl, or he’s had Kara hurt. Maybe Lex somehow already got a hold on the Harun-el and got powers. Maybe Linda has had plans this whole time to betray Lena, and she was just trying to get her to be vulnerable last night. 

 

Instead of outwardly panicking, Lena just prompts, “What is it?” with a shaky smile. 

 

Linda takes a deep breath. 

 

“We didn’t meet for the first time two days ago,” Linda finally says, and she smiles when she’s done, like that’s all she needs to say. 

 

Lena is extremely confused. 

 

“What do you mean?” Lena asks, frowning. “When could we have possibly met?”

 

“At L-Corp,” Linda tells her matter-of-factly. “We spoke in the elevator.”

 

Lena blinks. 

 

“When was this?” Lena questions, but she feels something like panic slipping into her voice. That missing piece is starting to fit into place. 

 

“When Alex brought me to America,” Linda explains, completely unaware of Lena’s growing panic. “I read about you in Kara Danvers’ diary and I wanted to meet you. I wanted to understand why she cared for you so much, and why I did, too. So I put on her clothes and her glasses and I got in the elevator with you. You said we would have a girls’ night when Kara came back from Smallville.”

 

Lena doesn’t even notice she’s out of her chair until she’s looking down at Linda, who looks confused. But Lena doesn’t have it in her to care. It fits. She doesn’t know how she couldn’t see it before. 

 

Kara is Supergirl. 

 

She doesn’t know how it’s possible to feel panic, anger, betrayal, and pure sadness all at once, but somehow she does. How could Kara lie to her all these years? She thought Kara trusted her, that she was the only one who ever truly had, but maybe she was wrong. Maybe Kara did only see her as a Luthor. 

 

How did that phrase go? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Maybe Kara was only pretending to be friends with Lena so that she could keep an eye on her. She tricked Lena into trusting her just so that she could know what Lena was up to, not because she really cared. 

 

What if Kara isn’t coming to save her at all? What if she’s decided she’s done with Lena and this is the perfect opportunity to just let her die? 

 

God—Lena can’t even fucking breathe. 

 

She doesn’t notice Linda has moved or is saying anything until Linda clamps her hands around Lena’s wrists from where Lena’s hands are clutching her head. 

 

“Lena?” Linda is pleading. “Is something wrong? Did I do something wrong? Are you angry with me? I didn’t mean to hurt you!”

 

Lena feels tears leaking steadily from her eyes. Linda sounds exactly like Kara. That’s why she always reminded her of Kara. She is Kara. 

 

She supposes it explains why Lena felt such a strong connection to her. Why she was able to fall in love with her so easily. 

 

Lena can’t listen to her voice right now. It feels like someone is reaching into her chest and squeezing until Lena can hardly even take a breath. 

 

“I can’t...” Lena gasps out, attempting to back away from Linda. Linda drops her wrists immediately, and Lena backs into the door, forgetting it’s closed. “I can’t do this.”

 

Lena doesn’t look at Linda again before flinging the door open and stepping into the hallway. She blindly makes her way through it until she reaches the Colonel’s office, pushing her way inside without even knocking. 

 

“What are you—” the Colonel starts, but Lena growls, “I need to speak with Lex.” over him. 

 

The Colonel blinks, clearly unsure of what to do, but the way Lena looks must help him decide to dial Lex’s number, talk to the Warden, and hand the phone to Lena. 

 

“To what do I—” Lex begins, but Lena isn’t having it. She doesn’t have time for Lex’s idea of banter. 

 

“You knew,” Lena accuses, and her tone is harsh. “You knew about Kara. That’s why you let Linda spend time with me. You wanted her to tell me.”

 

Lex gives out an appreciative hum, like he’s proud of Lena figuring it all out or something. 

 

“I hated knowing your closest friend was lying to you, Lena,” Lex says, his voice drowning in fake sympathy. “It doesn’t feel great, now does it?”

 

“Don’t, Lex,” Lena snaps. “Don’t compare this to you and Superman. Or, Clark Kent, I guess? It’s nothing like that.”

 

“Oh isn’t it?” Lex mocks, puffing our a laugh. “You’re really naive, aren’t you? You love Kara, don’t you? You’d do anything for her, I could see it written all over your face when you spoke to her on the phone. I felt the same for Clark. Except I did do anything for him. And he lied to me. He spent years lying to me even though I trusted him with everything I had. Supers don’t care about anyone, Lena. No one but themselves. And that’s why we have to stop them, because we’re the only ones who can see it. We’re the only ones who know how selfish they are, that it’s only a matter of time before they decide to take the world for themselves.” Lex takes a long breath. “With you and me, Lena, we’d be unbeatable. Even a Super couldn’t stop us.”

 

It doesn’t even take Lena a pause to respond, “No.”

 

Lex goes silent for a long moment. 

 

“No?” Lex repeats incredulously. “No? Lena, despite what I’ve said over the years, you aren’t stupid. You can’t possibly mean that you don’t want revenge after what Kara did to you.”

 

“I don’t,” Lena replies honestly. “What me and Kara have is nothing like what you and Clark had. I don’t just love her, Lex. I’m in love with her. And I have a clone to prove that she feels the same for me.”

 

There’s a long pause again, and Lena knows that she actually caught Lex off guard with that. 

 

“She doesn’t love you, you idiot,” Lex sneers. “She did this because she doesn’t trust you. She only sees you as a Luthor just like everyone else. And she always has.”

 

It’s Lena’s worst fear spread right out in front of her. Something that only a few minutes ago she had completely convinced herself of. 

 

But Lena thinks about Linda. The way she instantly trusted Lena and wanted to protect her. How she always felt a pull to Lena, a connection. 

 

“No,” Lena says again, more sure of herself than ever. “She did it because she wanted to protect me. She did it because she loves me.”

 

She hangs up the phone before Lex can say anything else. 

 

She’s about to hand the phone back to the Colonel when she hears crashing outside the base, followed by the sound of gunshots. 

 

Kara. 

 

Before Lena can even turn around, she’s being grabbed around the waist and pulled away, lightning fast. She’s disoriented when the stop, and is surprised to see that she’s back in Linda’s room, the bed in front of the door like the first night. 

 

Linda is completely tense, her hands curling into fists. 

 

Lena doesn’t even want to imagine what is about to happen, let alone see it happen right in front of her and because of her. 

 

“Linda...” Lena says softly, touching her on the shoulder. “Supergirl is here to save me. You don’t have to do this.”

 

Linda shakes her head. 

 

“No,” Linda protests. “Supergirl isn’t good, Lena. She helps bad people. She protects them. She doesn’t want to protect you as much as I do. I would protect you from all of those bad men. She wouldn’t. She doesn’t love you like I do.”

 

“She’s not bad, Linda!” Lena insists. “She’s good! Everything Lex told you was lies! She protects everyone because it’s the right thing to do. She wouldn’t help the bad guys, she stops them. But she sees the best in people, and believes them to be good until they prove her otherwise. That’s why I love her.”

 

Linda looks at her, conflicted, her fists clenching and unclenching. But before either of them can say anything else, there’s a loud bang on the door. Linda tenses, and turns back to the door just as it flies off it’s hinges. 

 

Kara stands on the other side, and Lena can’t help but feel a relieved smile form on her face at the sight of her. The smile mirrors on Kara’s face, even wider than hers until Kara sees who’s standing in front of Lena. 

 

Kara’s eyes widen as she scans her eyes over her own clone. 

 

“Lena...” Kara says slowly. “What’s going on?”

 

Kara climbs over the bed into the room, and in an instant Linda is in front of Lena so that she’s blocked from Kara’s view. 

 

“It turns out you have a clone,” Lena tells her, but it almost sounds like a question. 

 

“You can’t have her,” Linda declares, squaring her shoulders, clearly in preparation for a fight. 

 

Lena’s heart drops a little when she sees Kara’s do the same. 

 

“Linda,” Lena says lowly. “Don’t. She’s not going to hurt me. You know I called her to save me. I can’t stay here. You shouldn’t have to either.”

 

Linda whips around to face her, and she looks almost scared. 

 

“Alex is good!” Linda exclaims. “He wouldn’t let anything happen to you! He told me! You’re his sister and he loves you. That’s how it works between siblings.”

 

“That’s how it’s supposed to work,” Lena corrects, her eyes flicking over to Kara, who doesn’t look all that happy about how close Linda is to her. “It’s not like that between Lex and I. Lex doesn’t care about me. He’s tried to have me killed many times. If I stay here he’s going to kill me, Linda. And even you won’t be able to protect me.”

 

Linda searches Lena’s face, and she looks absolutely wrecked in a much different way than last night. Her lips part as if she’s about to speak, but Kara grabs her by the shoulder and throws her across the room into the wall. 

 

Lena watches her hit the wall and fall, sees the angry way her finger flex as she stands. 

 

“Lena, we have to go!” Kara insists, moving to grab Lena, but Linda slams into her, pushing Kara back until she’s pinned to the wall. 

 

Linda lifts her arm, probably to throw a punch, but Kara grabs it, surprising Linda enough that she’s able to use it to throw Linda off of her. Linda stumbles back, but she’s already preparing herself to attack Kara again. 

 

Before she can, Lena finds herself stepping between the two of them, panicked. 

 

“Stop!” she yells, and they both immediately look at her her. “You don’t need to fight!”

 

“Lena, she’s working for Lex!” Kara hisses, her eyes narrowing as she looks at her clone. “She’s dangerous. She can actually kill me!” 

 

“Because Lex manipulated her!” Lena reasons, urgently. “She’s just a part of you, Kara. I’ve seen it myself, she’s just like you. She thinks that Lex is Alex!”

 

But Lena doesn’t think Kara heard anything past her name, once Lena accidentally lets it slip. Her eyes grow wide, panicked. 

 

“Lena, how—” Kara starts, but Linda stalks forward, grabbing Lena’s elbow and pulling her close. 

 

“She lied to you, didn’t she?” Linda asks, just now seeming to realize why Lena was so upset before. “I told you that she doesn’t love you like I do.” Kara’s eyes widen impossibly further. “When you love someone, you’re supposed to be honest with them, like I was with you. I would never lie to you, Lena.” And for the last blow: “She doesn’t deserve you.”

 

Kara looks like she’s been punched in the gut, and Lena thinks Linda’s words hit harder than any punches could have. But she shakes it off and takes a sharp breath. 

 

“I lied because I love her!” Kara spits, moving in close to Lena, but she doesn’t touch her like Linda did. “You know that, don’t you, Lena? Please tell me you know that.”

 

“I do,” Lena promises, but Linda huffs angrily. 

 

“If you really loved her you would’ve told her,” Linda maintains, pulling Lena step away from Kara. 

 

“I was trying to protect her,” Kara insists. She sounds desperate, and she’s pointedly not looking at Lena. “Everyone who knows who I am is constantly in danger. And Lena already is all of the time. I couldn’t handle it if anything happened to her because of me.” She finally meets Lena’s gaze. “Lena, I never wanted you to get hurt because of me. I don’t know what I’d do if that happened.”

 

“Kara...” Lena breathes. She wants to reach out and touch her, tell her that while she’s angry and hurt, she still loves her and she always will, and she forgives her because she understands, even if they do need to talk. 

 

But she doesn’t get the chance, Alex is in the doorway a second later, tense and expression grave. 

 

“We need to get out of—” Alex blinks, cutting herself off as she takes in the two Supergirls standing in front of her. “Oh, God, what’s this?”

 

Linda tenses again, ready for another fight, but Lena grabs her on both of her biceps, leaning in close to her. 

 

“Linda,” Lena says quickly, dread seeking into her tone. “Listen to me. I’ve known Lex my whole life. He’s been lying to you and using you this whole time. The Alex you remembered, the one who you knew you could trust, it’s her.” Lena motions towards Alex, who’s still hovering in the doorway like she has no idea what she’s supposed to do in this situation. “Lex wants to destroy the world in some stupid vendetta to get back at Kara’s cousin. He’s using you as a weapon. That’s all you’ll ever be to him. If you stop, if you come with us, you could have a family. You could have people who really do love you and care about you. I promise you. Linda, I promise you. We can even watch the sunset together.”

 

After a pregnant pause, the tension drops from Linda’s shoulders, and Lena breathes a sigh of relief. She looks over at Kara who’s still glaring at Linda. 

 

“She’s not bad, Kara,” Lena tells her. “She’s you. She just wants to be good.”

 

Kara’s gaze softens at that, and she seems to relent, nodding her head.

 

Lena lets go of one of Linda’s arms, but begins pulling her out of the room with the other. Alex leads the way, and Kara trails behind them. Linda is completely silent, almost subdued next to her, but Lena tries not to let it worry her. 

 

There are several DEO helicopters outside, and Alex starts directing who to go where. 

 

“Lena, Lena, Lena,” says a voice behind her, and Lena physically feels her heart drop into her stomach. “Did you really think it would be this easy?”

 

Lex casually strolls up behind her, the head lab technician trailing behind. Lex holds a vial of the Harun-el in his hands. 

 

“How are you here?” Lena demands. Kara and Linda both shift in front of her at the same time, and if she were in any other situation she might laugh. 

 

“I decided it was high time I escape from prison just a few hours before your call,” Lex explains, twirling the vial in his hand. “And it was a good thing, too, because it seems my plan to get you on my side didn’t work.” He shrugs noncommittally. “I may be Lex Luthor, but I still can’t win them all. But it’s a good thing I got here before you could take Linda with you.”

 

Lena feels the urge to push Linda behind her, but she knows she would never let her. 

 

“You can’t have her,” Lena snaps, in an echo of what Linda said earlier. “I won’t let you use her. She’s too good for you to twist into one of your experiments.”

 

“I think one bodyguard is enough for you, Lena, don’t get greedy now,” Lex admonishes. “And, anyway, how exactly are you going to stop me?”

 

“I will,” Kara interjects, crossing her arms over her chest. “I may not be Superman, but I think I’ll enjoy kicking your ass even more than he does.”

 

Lex laughs, opens the vial, and downs the entire thing in one gulp. 

 

“Go ahead, then,” Lex goads, and Lena really has to admire his hubris, if nothing else. 

 

The crunch of his face against Supergirl’s fist is probably the most satisfying thing Lena’s heard. 

 

Lex was clearly not expecting it, and he goes down like a shot. 

 

He laughs, and spits blood out onto the ground. 

 

“You tricked me,” he revels, looking up at Lena. “You really are a Luthor.”

 

Kara kicks Lex, knocking him into the air until his back hits a tree. It cracks under the force, and he slides down onto the ground. 

 

Linda is breathing heavily next to her, and when Lena looks at her, she’s wincing. Lena is still holding her bicep, and it’s gone completely rigid. 

 

“Linda...” Lex calls as Kara stalks towards him. “Are you going to let her do this to me? Remember what I told you. What I’ve done for you.”

 

“Don’t listen to him,” Lena mutters. “He’s trying to manipulate you.”

 

“Lena will never be there for you like I will, like I have been,” Lex continues, groaning when Kara grabs him by the throat and pains him to the tree. “She’ll never love you. You’re just an imitation of who she already loves. Why would she want you when she could have the real thing?” 

 

Kara starts saying things to Lex that Lena can’t hear, but Linda completely shrinks away from Lena, and Lena has no choice but to drop her hand from her arm. 

 

Kara has Lex by the throat and pulls him across the field towards them while the other DEO officers grab the lab technician. Alex moves towards Kara with cuffs in hand. 

 

Linda shifts next to her. 

 

“Linda,” Lena warns. “Don’t.”

 

Linda looks at her, her eyes traveling down her like she’s trying to memorize her completely in just one look. 

 

“Don’t,” Lena says again, her voice teary. “Please.”

 

Linda smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. She takes Lena’s face in her hands, kisses her once, twice, three times. Their lips linger together on the last one, like Linda is trying to savor it as best she can. She brushes the tears away from Lena’s eyes with her thumbs. 

 

“I really am Gatsby,” Linda admits softly, sadly. “And you are Daisy, and she is Tom. And you will always choose her over me.”

 

And then she’s moving out of Lena’s arms. Before Lena can even turn around, she’s punched Kara in the face, knocking her across the field, flung Alex out of the way, and has grabbed Lex. She locks eyes with Lena one last time before she flies away, Lex in her arms. 

 

Lena feels her heart break in her chest as Linda disappears, no longer even a dot in the sky visible against the setting sun. 

 

Lena supposes that Linda has finally gotten to see her sunset. She hopes she likes it. 

 

“Damn it!” Alex swears, groaning as she stands. Kara is in the same shape, as she gets back on her feet a little less gracefully than usual. “What do we do now?”

 

“We find him,” Lena says steadily, much more so than she feels. “And we get him back in prison.”

 

“And what about my clone?” Kara asks. She says it delicately, but there’s a sort of annoyance lying underneath that Lena would almost think is jealously. “What should we do about her?”

 

Lena closes her eyes. She’s learned over the years, that there’s some people you just can’t save. 

 

“Whatever you have to.”

**Author's Note:**

> i actually wrote about 10k of this in the past two days. i’m pretty sure this is my favorite fic i’ve written because it was just so self indulgent honestly lmao. it was exactly what i would’ve wanted to see in the show and i just wrote it all down. i was so enthusiastic about it that i couldn’t stop writing lol. i probably could’ve written 50k words on this, but i really don’t have the time for that so i condensed it into this. 
> 
> thank you all for reading! hope you enjoyed it as much as i enjoyed writing it!


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